Privacy delays ad targeting on phones
NEW YORK - Your cell phone is a potential gold mine for marketers: It can reveal where you are, whom you call and even what music you like.
Considering the phone is usually no more than a few feet away, these are powerful clues for figuring out just the right moment to deliver the right coupon for the store just around the corner.
But first marketers will have to wrest the personal profiles from mobile carriers worried that annoyed subscribers might defect to rivals.
"It's proceed with caution," said Jarvis Coffin, chief executive of advertising distributor Burst Media Corp. "Are consumers going to be spooked by the idea that suddenly their phone goes beep and it's a Starbucks offer, and they are standing next to a Starbucks?"
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071228/ap_on_hi_te/advertising_on_the_goThis has got me wondering, as I need a new cell phone anyway.
1) Is it possible to get a cell phone that does
NOT have camera and web-surfing capability ? I like the convenience of having a cell, but I want to avoid, as much as possible, the extra fees and the chance that my own phone is spying on me. My current phone is an older model that allows for texting and voice communications and nothing more. I'd like to keep it that way.
2) My commitment with my carrier expired a long time ago and I'm now month-to-month. If I provide the phone (ie it is not bought from my carrier with the requisite "two year contract" clause,) should I be able to continue with month-to-month, or am I screwed?